Are doctors doing everything they can to treat premature babies properly when they are born? Many people are unaware of the serious health problems that many premature babies now face.
The New York Times reports on the health issues faced by premature babies.
Serious problems such as blindness and cerebral palsy are becoming more and more common among babies born premature.
“Premature babies given too much oxygen may have abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eye, which can leave them blind. Dr. Lawn said she had been in wards where several babies were receiving oxygen, yet the hospital had no pulse oximeters to monitor their blood-oxygen levels,” according to The Times.
The Times goes into detail about exactly what pediatric experts are seeing and what they are particularly concerned about.
“Jaundiced babies whose bilirubin levels rise too high can develop cerebral palsy. In poor countries, the risk of death for premature babies is 10 times as high as in rich countries. In middle-income countries, the risk of death is only slightly higher than in the West, but the risk of severe disability is twice as high. About 15 million babies around the world are born prematurely each year. About two million die soon after birth, and more than 900,000 survivors have some impairment,” explains the Times.
The study shows that although these issues are more common in Latin American countries, they do affect North America as well. Pediatric doctors, experts and researchers are stressing the importance of premature babies getting proper attention as soon as they are born. If they are not given proper care immediately, or a health problem is not noticed early on then it often develops into something worse and can be fatal for the baby because of their fragile and weak state.
